by Shmuel Goppen

The numbers from this month’s Maryland primary are a measurable, countable record of a community that showed up too late and in too small a number for a moment that mattered more than almost any in recent memory.

State Senator Dalya Attar, the first Orthodox Jewish woman ever elected to the Maryland Senate, lost her seat in the District 41 Democratic primary to Delegate Malcolm Ruff by roughly 3,700 votes out of just under 18,000 cast. Baltimore County Executive candidate Izzy Patoka, the only Jewish candidate in that race and a longtime advocate for the community, finished second to Julian Jones, trailing by nearly 6,900 votes. Both losses are now permanent, at least for this cycle. Both losses were close enough that a modestly larger Orthodox turnout could plausibly have changed the outcome in District 41, and even in the county race, organized turnout would have mattered far more than it did.

This is not simply a story about two lost elections. It’s a story about what happens when a community that prides itself on civic engagement, chinuch (education), tzedaka, and communal organization treats electoral politics as optional. Lest you think sitting on the sidelines right now is optional, let us look at what has happened so far around the country this election cycle and then we will zero in on our own community.

by B. Halevi

His frenzied fingers played frantically along the forlorn blades of grass, digging into the ground, entrenching themselves well past his nails before jerking their way out. He barely registered the ruin he was wreaking on his long, beautiful fingers or the clumps of shredded grass collecting around him or the tears snaking down his face. They moved slowly down the bridge of his nose, catching on his nostrils, and dangling off his frozen mouth, suspended in midfall as if turned to granite, along with his expression. He had eyes only for what lay behind him: a black, black cloud.

From the hollow among the bushes where he crouched, Yehuda could see the thick heavy mass that stood against the black of night – an even darker black. It hovered above the Har Habayis, and he knew that it was filled with smoke, debris, and human remains – the charred remains of his brothers. His assessed the lower portion of the blackness, straining but failing to make out the structure of the ruins underneath he knew were there. It was too dark. Or maybe there were no ruins. He didn’t know how much of the Mikdash remained; thank G-d he’d fled too early to find out. He only knew that it was a building that was practically impossible to utterly and totally destroy. He hoped. He had been in that building.

As his memories from earlier in the day engulfed him, it looked as if he was in another world, and he was. A searing heat emanating from the city tore at his body, and his nose filled with the rising stench of smoke and the sickly-sweet smell of burning flesh. He tried to slow his breathing, turn back the nightmare, but it was no use.

A loud wailing wafted through the night, seeming to begin in the westernmost corner of the city and spreading until it was flowing from across the whole city. Woman and children helpless against the marauders, keening for their lost husbands, fathers, lives, and for the Mikdash. In his deranged state, it seemed as if the very ground itself was crying.

His whole body was trembling, and when he failed to stem the memory, his fingers finally left the soil so he could clamp them tight over his face. O, Yerushalayim….

Our community has many organizations offering a range of services for physical and spiritual needs. However, for seniors, support often focuses on physical issues, neglecting spiritual and emotional fulfillment. Yet many seniors crave spirituality just as much – if not more – than younger people. Since 2011, The Golden Network (TGN) has focused on addressing the spiritual needs of seniors.

The Genesis of The Golden Network

While at the Greater Washington Community Kollel, I noticed a lack of opportunities for learning and social interaction among retirees. Many wondered how to use retirement to grow spiritually. I considered how to reach all seniors: providing companionship to the homebound, learning opportunities at home, and connecting those in non-Jewish facilities with their heritage. It became clear there was a lack of spiritually focused programs for seniors. After meeting with community leaders, The Golden Network was established in September 2011.

On my most recent trip to Brooklyn to visit my daughter and son-in-law, I realized I didn’t have my EZ-Pass with me. I wouldn’t have thought that driving without an EZ pass could be so absurdly challenging, but somehow, keeping an eye out for toll booths and navigating my way was more difficult than I thought. Normally, a family member or a stranger who posted for a ride would help me with this new divided attention task, but alas, this time I was driving solo.

On the plus side, even though I was traveling alone, I was able to establish a better relationship with my GPS lady. She not only kept me apprised of the speed traps along the way but also offered her reassurances when traffic slowed down to a crawl by telling me that we were “still on the fastest route.” I’m not really sure how I would’ve managed to get off the highway while surrounded by cars on every side if I hadn’t been on the fastest route, but luckily in the cases where I did hit traffic, it seems that going five mph was as good as it was going to get.

With the GPS lady by my side, the main thing my attention was focused on were the police cars lurking along the side of the highway. Fortunately, I have some experience in this matter since I take the 695 to work every day. Due to the construction that has finally sprung to life after sitting dormant for close to a year, speed zones and speed traps have been set up. The speed traps consist of strategically placed police cars on each side of the inner and outer loop. Fortunately for those of us who are inclined to avoid getting a speeding ticket, the large police SUVs that they’ve chosen to mount the speed cameras on are “hidden” behind a port-a-potty. I kid you not. It’s kind of like playing hide-and-seek with a hippopotamus who’s hiding behind a flagpole. I have yet to receive a speeding ticket.

You are davening Ne’ilah, and your stomach growls while you should be thinking of teshuva. Well, let me be honest; I am usually thinking about whether to choose a sesame, poppy, onion or everything bagel. That leads me to the food that pairs with the bagel. It is cream cheese and lox, of course.

Food pairing is very important. For example, what is cholent without kishka? Or a potato knish without mustard? And what is turkey without cranberry sauce? We all combine peanut butter and jelly, pretzels and beer, spaghetti and meatballs, and French fries and ketchup. Pea soup goes with chunks of hot dog, and chicken soup with matza balls. Cookies need chocolate chips, and Scotch complements herring. And what would macaroni be without cheese, crackers without dips, tacos without salsa, burgers without fries, or soup without croutons?

Kokash and Babka are perfect with coffee. Coffee is enhanced by milk and tea by honey. Then we have baked beans with hot dogs and burgers with coleslaw, string beans with almonds and rib steak with fried onions, latkes with apple sauce or sour cream, and gefilte fish with horseradish. Sweet noodle kugel is best with raisins, cheesecake with fruit toppings, and ice cream drizzled with hot fudge. Maple syrup is a must for pancakes as are humus and tehina for pita. They all go together.

You don’t have to be raised in Baltimore to read Take a Walk Through My Shtetl (2025), the new book by Eli W. Schlossberg – but it helps! I have known the author’s mother, Mrs. Greta Schlossberg, a”h, and his sister, Aviva Sondhelm, since childhood, so the book held special interest for me, but I think that anyone with an interest in nostalgia, local Jewish history, and wise advice would find it intriguing.

In his previous book, My Shtetl Baltimore (2017), Schlossberg recounted the history of the Baltimore Jewish community, including his childhood, as well as fascinating personalities, institutions, and incidents of the past 65 years. Now, with Take a Walk Through My Shtetl, Mr. Schlossberg continues the story of life in religious Baltimore, his “shtetl,” on a more personal level. His new book is a tribute to the unique community that is Baltimore – including the continuity of German (Yekkish) minhagim (customs) and the ability of the kehilla to grow and prosper under all circumstances. It is not at all limited to the world of German Jews, however. All of us living within the eiruv and donating to Ahavas Yisrael – the author’s beloved community tzedaka organization, where he is trustee – are all members of Schlossberg’s shtetl.

Today marks the 613^th day of my older son Ze’ev’s reserve-duty service as an army kashrut mashgiach since the October 7^th War broke out. I know that number sounds like I made it up, but I didn’t. Just saying. Some people have been in uniform for 997 days. Others have been in uniform for hundreds. One of those is my son-in-law.

A few months ago, my daughter Tzippora and her husband Shaked were making plans for summer vacation. Shaked, who learned in yeshiva and passed a year of semicha tests, is a popular Tanach teacher in a secular school in Kiryat Gat. As an idealistic baal teshuva from the Iranian community of Ashkelon, becoming a role model to kids from a background similar to his own was always his dream, and now he is living that dream. He is already a homeroom teacher in charge of the Tanach department in his large high school, and the school is starting to push him to take an interest in being a school principal, but he wants to keep teaching.

 Over the past three years, he has been juggling teaching with hundreds of days of intense army service, mostly in Gaza. At age 34, he is no longer in the very front lines like he was 10 years ago as an elite Givati infantry reservist participating in four Gaza post-Disengagement wars, but he is still very much involved in active combat service.

Mr. Flamm was a beloved educator and mentor at Talmudical Academy, where he taught first and sixth grade and also prepared students for their bar mitzvahs, including my brother and me. He and my family were members of Shearith Israel on Glen Ave in Baltimore, and the Flamm family were longtime customers of my father’s business, Wasserman and Lemberger.

For many years, Mr. Flamm kindly drove me to school each morning because my father left early for work. Although many people assumed he was a rabbi, he never received semicha and insisted on being called “Mr. Flamm.” In addition to teaching at Talmudical Academy, he also taught at other day schools and synagogue Hebrew schools from the 1960s through the 1980s. He was deeply loved and respected by generations of students and synagogue members.

I found the article below in an old issue of the Shearith Israel Bulletin and thought young readers would find Mr. Flamm’s story an interesting and inspiring part of Baltimore history.

Looking to move into a new house? Renovate one you are moving into? Renovate your own?

The best way to do this is to utilize government programs that are meant to benefit health, the environment, and emissions, and to prevent danger and hazards. Here are three programs that can deliver the desired result:

EmPOWER Maryland

Have you ever noticed all the EmPower MD charges on your BGE bill? Now it is time to become a beneficiary of what you are paying for instead of just funding others.

EmPOWER Maryland Limited Income Energy Efficiency Program is a statewide program that provides free home repairs and upgrades to reduce energy use, improve comfort, lower bills, and enhance health/safety. This is one of Maryland’s most powerful hidden home?improvement resources. I actually finally studied it properly as a result of being pressured with a 45-minute deadline to write this article.

Eligibility: There are two paths to eligibility:

1) If you participate in any of these programs, you are automatically income?eligible: SNAP, TANF, SSI, Medicaid.

2) Income?based eligibility is based on the household income being below 250% of Federal Poverty Level. As an example, the income for a household of eight must be below $137,550. For other amounts, see https://dhcd.maryland.gov/Energy-Home-Repair/pages/homeowner-grants/empower.aspx.

EmPOWER focuses on energy efficiency and safety. Here are some major repairs that many homeowners don’t realize can be covered by EmPOWER:

• Insulation
• Hot water system improvements
• Furnace cleaning/tuning
• Lighting retrofits
• Refrigerator replacement
• Health and safety items

A quiet movement was initiated by and for Orthodox women who are doing the holy task of helping those at the end-of-life, working with the deceased, and caring for the bereaved. Most people run the other way when this topic is raised; not so the more than 100 women who eagerly came on the first Sunday and Monday in May to the inaugural Vital Voices Conference, organized by Core –  Jewish Women’s Leadership and Community Support Network, a global nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering Jewish women in communal leadership roles.

The mission of Core, whose CEO is Alia Bulow, is to build leadership infrastructure for the Jewish world. It connects, develops, and supports women in communal service so they can stay and grow in those roles, and through them grow stronger. Core supports 14 different “communities of practice,” ranging from the community of rebbetzins to kallah teachers to those who support the dying and bereaved.

Women from all over the world traveled to attend the first conference of its kind to collaborate, share, network, and support one another. This gathering was guided by our Torah values and hashkafa and included a panoply of outstanding speakers who are professionals in their field.

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